Grains of Sand: Yuichiro
by AnimeWolfGirl9
Summary: Yu wanted to take revenge on the vampires for his family; he just didn't know how much it was going to take to accomplish that goal. (Part of the Grains of Sand series) (Yu backstory) ("Guest" appearances)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Seraph of the End and everything belongs to its respective owners.**

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Chapter 1

Finding out that there was some amount of humanity left in the world – that he wouldn't be completely alone – was the first thing that he had thought. Seeing that there were people outside, past the age of 13 – adults – had given him hope that he had more than a year left to live. They promised to help him kill the vampires, to give him the power to do so. He accepted.

The coat they gave him blocked out most of the outward chill from the wind. His feet were numb, but he continued to follow them, refusing any further help until he had lost consciousness. When he woke up again, it was in a hallway of some building, with Guren holding his exhausted body.

The first thing they had done was taken him to a smaller room, where he was checked out by a doctor. This fact alone marveled him; the vampires had never cared for the children, making them fend for themselves. They had removed the coat and stripped him of the stained 'livestock' clothing he had worn for the past four years. Once he was deemed healthy enough, they gave him gray pants and a shirt and had him change.

Afterwards, he was left in another small room containing a bed, lamp, desk, and a small bathroom off the side of the room. It was another surprise to him: the fact that he had a bathroom all to his own was almost too much to think about. The lady that had dropped him off – he assumed that she was a part of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army too from her uniform – said that Guren would be back in a short while.

He was now curled up on the bed, staring at the wall as if it would give him some answers. The blood had been washed off of him hours ago now, but he could still see it on his hands. Mika's blood. He had left them all to die; he couldn't protect them. _Some family I was._

The silence of the room made everything come crashing back. He realized that he was wrong – he actually was all alone now. He didn't have a family anymore. They were all gone; all because he had been too weak.

"We promised we would escape together," he whispered, his vision blurring as he stared at his hands. Just a few hours before, they had been laughing at the dinner table while eating curry. Now, they couldn't do anything ever again. He wouldn't see them anymore, and now all he had left…

Who was he now? He had been abandoned by his first family, taken to the Hyakuya orphanage. He had been a part of the Hyakuya family, but now that they were gone…

" _You'll always be you, Yu-chan,"_ Mika's voice chimed in cheerfully in his head, _"You can't be anyone else. You're just you. Nobody can take that away from you and nothing can change that."_

He remembered crying for a long time afterwards. Time didn't mean anything to him. Some part of him wished that he would have been able to die with them, but he wouldn't be able to face them if he couldn't kill the vampires. _Just like I promised._

Guren came into the room at an undetermined time, most likely very late at night. Yu hadn't bothered to keep track of the time and there wasn't a clock in the room to tell anyway. The man had something with him, but he hadn't checked to see what it was. It was left on the desk, most likely for when he could think straight.

He dozed off sometime after that, waking when the light of morning streamed through the window. He still felt unbearably weak, but he was able to stand up. His footsteps led him to the desk, finding a package there. Inside was a small notebook and a pen. A note from Guren was attached to the package that read:

 _Feel free to write anything you need to in this. If you ever need to talk, ask someone to lead you to my office._

The notebook left him numb for a moment before everything came back to him again. A distant memory caused a sour taste in his mouth as he threw the package back onto the desk and crawled back to the bed. He closed his eyes again, surrendering to the more peaceful time.

 _Mika, the blonde-haired boy, had entered the room they all shared. No one else had been there except for Yu; they had all left him alone after he made it clear that he didn't want to talk. The other orphan hadn't seemed to understand that though._

 _"I would have wrapped it in paper if we had any, but I couldn't find some," Mika handed him a book with a half-used pen, smiling the whole time. "I know that you've had it tough, so I thought maybe that writing about your time here could help."_

 _"Like a diary?" Yu asked irritably as he sat the 'gift' down on the bed beside him, "that's stupid."_

 _"It doesn't have to be written if you don't want to. You could draw pictures if you want," the smile never left, annoying him further, "you could write about your old family and what's going on here with your new one."_

 _"You're suggesting I make a picture diary? That's even worse," he had avoided the other boy's gaze for as long as he could. A small sigh came from the blonde as he sat down on the opposite bed, drawing Yu's attention._

 _"I figured that it might help. I know it did for me," the words caused him to finally look into the fellow orphan's blue gaze, "besides, you seem like you could be really creative if you tried."_

As tears threatened to overflow again at the memory, he made two promises. He would kill the vampires for his family, and he would never get close to anyone ever again. He would do this by himself until the day he died.

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Hello everyone~! Well, this is a sort of backstory fanfiction for Yu that will hopefully fill in some gaps between the end of the first episode (ah, the nostalgia so long ago!) and Yu joining JIDA (basically, the second episode/time skip). This fanfiction is also one part of a larger project that AnimeWolfGirl16 and I are taking on called the Grains of Sand series. It's basically a whole ton of backstory and extras for different characters. She's taking on Mika's part while I'm doing Yu's~! So far we have plans to do Yu, Mika, Guren (yes, I know there are the light novel's backstory, but give it a chance. This is sort of an AU-ish backstory in a sense), Yoichi, Shinoa, Shinya and maybe Krul (that's a lot more than I thought!). So, this chapter was a bit depressing - and some of them will be, considering what Yu has been through - but it sort of sets the fanfiction up. Plus I like writing younger Mika and Yu-chan flashbacks, so expect some of those~! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter for Grains of Sand: Yuichiro and please leave your thoughts in a review (I have most of the major parts planned, but if anyone has any ideas, I might be able to add them in~)!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Yu found that, after five days of absolutely the same thing happening over and over again, he didn't really like Guren all that much. Sure, the man had promised to give him the power to destroy the vampires, but he sure had odd ways of doing so…

"I said that I'm fine!" he snapped at the next doctor that asked about his condition, already having to hear the question asked more times than he could count. It wasn't like he hadn't seen or felt worse. All their worrying was starting to freak him out.

 _It's just a bump on the head… again._ The thought caused a stream of irritation to run through him. This was the fifth time he had been sent to the infirmary, while unconscious, because Guren hadn't known his own strength. _Stupid Guren, bopping me on the head again._

The twelve year old brought a hand up to his head, where the older man had promptly smacked the sword hilt on the younger boy's head during training. Yu had thought that he always had good reflexes, which Guren admitted to, but they went over the same thing day after day.

Guren had given Yu a wooden sword, one that was supposed to be used in training, and promptly tested his 'innate skills.' This mainly included his reaction time, stamina, and attack power. The older man also had a habit of teasing him about certain aspects that he got wrong.

Speaking of which, said man poked his head into the doorway of the recovery room Yu was in. "Oh, look who's finally awake," his jab sent little spikes of anger through the boy.

"It's your fault I'm in here in the first place!" Yu turned away from the man, instead opting to look out the window. "If you would actually teach me something, then I wouldn't be in this situation."

"Passing the blame," a hand on the orphan's head caused him to try and swat it away, the action only causing Guren to ruffle the boy's hair more. "If you can't handle what we're doing now, then how are you going to handle anything further?"

The words actually stumped the black-haired boy; so much so that he had to remain silent. Anything else he would have said could make the situation worse. The question further reminded him of how weak he still was. _Even now, I might not have been able to protect them._

The lieutenant seemed to have noticed a small downcast in his mood. "Well, that's why we're starting at the basics, so that you can learn to handle more." The boy glanced over to see that the older man had leaned against the wall, eyes closed in relaxation. The words that came out of Guren's mouth next, however, caused his eyes to widen. "It's not like I started out exactly as I am now."

Yu's mouth opened, trying to say something in accordance to the words, but he found that he couldn't. Sure, it seemed like common knowledge, but… _I never thought I would hear him say that, even after knowing him for a week._

So far, the older man was full of surprises. Yu had been allowed two days of resting before he was able to start any sort of training. After that, he had his first lesson. Now five days later, Guren was actually giving him some weird sort of encouragement.

"You're actually not ranting for once," the man walked over to him, a slight smirk on his face as he grabbed a roll of gauze that was lying on the table beside the bed. "You should take the rest of the day off."

"What?" the word slipped from his mouth before he could stop it, followed quickly by an exclamation of discomfort when the gauze was wrapped around his head a little bit too tightly. "I can keep going."

Guren gave him a smirk as he stood up, heading back towards the door. "If you continue, next time you'll get a concussion. I don't think she'd be very happy at me if that happened." The latter sentence made Yu think that he wasn't supposed to hear that.

"She?" he blinked in surprise as the older man raised a hand in farewell before walking out the door.

"We'll start back at the beginning tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

The parting words stuck in Yu's mind long after he had been released from the recovery room. He had walked back to the room he stayed in, still finding it a bit uncomfortable from the newness of it all. His green gaze wandered over to the desk, spying the notebook and pen. He hadn't touched them in the last week, not wanting anything that could remind him of the past.

 _Mika said it would be good for me._ The thought caused sadness, but his footsteps led him over to the objects anyways. He flipped open to the first blank page, dating it at the top and writing in the small amount of symbols that he knew. It would be a start.

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Well, here's the second chapter! It's a bit shorter in my opinion, but I figured that I didn't want to push any ideas farther than they could go (then it would just seem too long). I didn't hear much feedback on the first chapter, so I assume I'm doing alright~? Writing Guren is a bit of a first for me, so please excuse if he's a bit OOC. The next chapter will have another flashback and, hopefully, be longer. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please let me know your thoughts~!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	3. Chapter 3

**Suki90:** Thank you! So glad that you enjoy the story (as well as reading the others)!

 **Aneki Okumura:** Thank you for reading this and I'm glad to know you're keeping up with the other Grains of Sand(s) as well (the story elements are all tied together, so that's important)! Updates are on Sunday every week (unless I forget or feel like updating earlier :D ).

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Chapter 3

 _Yu sighed when he heard a second pair of footsteps enter the dining room. He didn't have to look behind him to know who would appear. "Can't sleep again, Yu-chan?" the question made him look regardless, seeing Mika standing in the doorway with a knowing look on his face._

 _Yu didn't have a way to answer, so he stayed silent, glaring at the wall as he stared straight ahead. He was slumped against the table where they normally ate dinner. Everyone else was supposed to be asleep, but Mika always seemed to know when he was awake. Sure, sleeping on the same, cramped cot with seven other children didn't leave much in the way of privacy. It was often hard to go somewhere without waking someone else up._

 _Mika's footsteps resumed, growing closer to him as the blonde sat down in the chair next to him. "You're bothered by something."_

 _"Go away."_

 _"That's not very nice to say when I just want to help," the blonde pretended to pout for a moment, earning an eye roll from Yu._

 _"You and your weird antics, Mika. Go back to sleep." The dark-haired boy almost wanted to add 'there, does that sound nicer?' but didn't. The other orphan didn't do as he asked though, which really didn't surprise him. Instead, another teasing remark surfaced._

 _"Everyone has their weird antics. Parentheses, Yu-chan's is stranger than most, end parentheses._ _ **(1)**_ _" The smile on Mika's face when he answered was enough to annoy him again._

 _"Really, the parentheses wasn't necessary." Why the other boy insisted on doing that, he had no clue. It did get on his nerves every time and he didn't necessarily feel like putting up with the strange form of joking at this hour._

 _"It wasn't?" Mika's smile was still on his face, causing Yu to look away again. The other boy was way too cheerful for two in the morning. "Really though, what did you dream about this time?"_

 _"You really want to know?" Yu's question was accompanied by a skeptical glance. Of course, Mika always tried to help in any way he could, but the dark-haired boy didn't want to put any more burdens on the other orphan._

 _"Of course I do! Talking about what you saw could help."_

 _"Alright then," Yu shrugged, figuring it was time to get the blonde back for his teasing. "I was just dreaming about how nice it would be when I can finally get rid of those bloodsuckers. Maybe if I found a sword lying around, then I could just cut into one and-"_

 _"You're not serious, are you?!" The blonde's concerned comment, slightly louder than the others had been, interrupted him. They both cringed when they heard shuffling from the bed, but luckily no one came down._

 _"Of course not." Yu knew it wasn't a complete lie; of course he wanted to kill the vampires, but his dreams never really consisted of that. Mika released a relieved sigh before giving the black-haired boy a look._

 _"Yu-chan, to think that your dreams could be so violent…" the other boy's blue gaze was cast towards the ceiling a moment later. "That did help though, didn't it?"_

 _Mika's words caused him to scoff as he looked away, but they were true. Somehow, the blonde's advice had made him feel a bit better. How Mika knew that, however, was something that he probably wouldn't figure out either._

 _"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."_

 _The other orphan sighed at his comment before giving him another look. This one, Yu had no idea what it was about, but his gaze narrowed when the other boy copied his posture a moment later._

 _"That looks so uncomfortable and you look so moody when you sit like that." Mika's comment caused him to sit up, another streak of annoyance running through him._

 _"Why should you care?! Don't sit like that if it's uncomfortable for you!" The blonde shushed him when his tone got a bit too loud. Yu still gave him an irritated glare._

 _"I think you've stayed up late enough like that. Come on, Yu-chan, back to bed for you~" The blonde grabbed his arm and herded him towards the ladder that they used to get up to the cot. Yu sighed and started to climb, stopping mid-way as he stared down at the other boy, who was partially on the ladder too._

 _"I get enough sleep as it is. I don't need you acting like my mother."_

 _"Sure you do," Mika's overly bright smile was followed by another joke, this one in a whisper. "Parentheses, Yu-chan's going to be grumpy tomorrow, end parentheses."_

 _The black-haired boy grew irritated again. Mika could have easily not included the parentheses comment again, but it had obviously been on purpose. Yu's right foot came off the stepladder and headed straight for the blonde's head, not too harshly but enough to prove a point. The other boy saw it coming though and moved his head to the side, grinning again as Yu struggled to keep his balance._

 _"Yu-chan, that could have hurt."_

 _"You deserved it."_

 _Mika silently laughed as he continued to climb up the ladder and settled back onto the cot. The blonde joined him a moment later as they both stared up at the ceiling._

 _It wasn't until a long time later, when both of them lay awake as sleep evaded them, that Mika actually guessed exactly what his dream had been about._

 _"I don't think anyone ever wants to be alone," the blonde's ramblings came from a few inches away. Yu's eyes opened half-way as he looked over at the boy. "I'm glad that we can all be together, even if it is under circumstances like these."_

Yu's consciousness returned much too quickly for his liking. The twelve year old cursed as a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. When his green eyes opened, he was still alone in the same boring room. His eyes wandered to the clock, which pronounced the time as one-thirty in the morning.

The black-haired boy continued to lie in the same position for a while, not moving as he stared at the wall. Sleep wanted to claim him, but he wouldn't let it. The bitterness of the memory was still fresh in his mind, but that was much better than what would come if he did succumb to sleep.

Ever since he had escaped the vampire city, Yu had one consistent dream: where he had to watch his family die over and over again. Sometimes before that, he would get glimpses of the past, of when he had desired to escape how their lives had been.

 _Now, I think I would give anything to go back to then,_ the thought made Yu aware of the tears that threatened the corners of his vision. He sat up in bed, feeling sick once again. He didn't want to go to sleep, not when the next thing he would see would be his family's deaths at the hands of a vampire.

When his feet hit the floor, he realized it was cold, much like the floor at the orphanage had been. Even in the vampire city, they didn't really have much in the form of warmth, but here, people didn't even seem to consider it a luxury.

Snow fell down in gentle waves outside his window, blending the landscape together. The sight reminded him, once again, of the day that he had arrived at the orphanage. _Of when I met my family._

The boy slumped down against the wall, finding the position uncomfortable. Mika's words echoed in his mind, but at least this way he would be kept awake. He would be tired and slow tomorrow, he would be sore, and Guren would probably yell at him for it, but at least that was better than the loneliness he felt.

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 **(1)** Mika does this in the manga of Seraph of the End for some of the flashbacks, so I thought it would be fun to include~

Welcome to the third chapter, everyone! I'm so glad to see that you are enjoying the story so far! Well, here's the flashback I promised~! I just love writing younger Yu and Mika's interactions; it seems to come much easier while writing than most of the other things I write (that's why – in most of my stories – I try and include at least one flashback, if it's relevant). The end of the chapter was a bit depressing, but I'm trying to keep the story's tone with how I thought it would have been in the show; even though it does pain me to write poor Yu in such a sad state… Next chapter will include more Yu and Guren interactions, so look forward to that~!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The training sessions that Yu took with Guren had to be conducted in an indoor training 'field' of sorts for a very specific reason: the weather outside was frigid with winter. So far, the black-haired boy had been improving on his skills with the wooden sword. When he came in to the training room today, however, it was a very stark contrast to what he was used to seeing.

"What the…?" Yu let the soft exclamation leave him in confusion as he stared at the floor of the training facility. Normally, the floor had been comprised of dirt, or even concrete. Now, the ground beneath him was mushy and slick with mud. And, standing in the middle of the field of mud, was Guren.

After several moments of simply standing and staring, the older man seemed to get impatient. "What's wrong?! Can't handle a little mud on your clothes?!" the taunts were clearly meant to get him annoyed and, like usual, it worked.

"Stupid Guren," the boy muttered as he made his way through the mud field, having to practically rip his feet from the stickier pools of liquid dirt. Guren had another smug expression on his face when the boy finally reached him.

"Since you've somewhat improved over the past few days, I thought we could start making things a bit more difficult."

"Did you try a horrible attempt at gardening, or…?" Yu commented back, motioning to the ground beneath them. Guren's expression became serious, not at all like the boy was expecting.

"This training facility can be modified to imitate real weather circumstances that you could encounter," the colonel explained, turning away from him. "Since you can finally keep your own balance on normal flooring, this could be considered the next step."

The fact that Guren was admitting to Yu making progress was already a great start to the day. _Finally, he realizes that, but…_

"Why mud? It's practically like running on dirt except that it's sticky," the black-haired boy unclogged his shoe again when it stuck, following after the other man. Guren held out his hand, a signal for him to stop, before he walked to a respectable distance away from the dark-haired boy.

"You really think it's that easy?" His words were taunting again as he tossed Yu a wooden sword. The boy caught it easily, knowing that they would start a mock battle soon. That seemed to be the way Guren taught; by doing, not explaining.

"Of course! I'll show just how well I've improved and then you can teach me something new!" Yu couldn't help the bit of pride that he felt as he slipped into a fighting stance, seeing Guren do the same across from him. The orphan had dealt with slippery streets when it had rained back at the orphanage, so this was going to be nothing compared to that.

 _Then I can start learning what really matters;_ the thought caused him to smile, but the older man still looked smug, causing confusion to run through him. _Does he really think that I've learned nothing?_

"I'll hold you to that then," Guren motioned with his hand. "You can make the first move and show me how much of an 'expert' you are."

The older man's eyes already seemed to be scanning him for errors and, coupled with the mocking tone he had used, it made the boy annoyed. Of course Guren thought the orphan wasn't capable of beating him!

Yu rushed forward, feeling as though his pace was slowed by the mud. He angled his sword at a forward thrust, the attack being easily deflected by Guren's sword. The black-haired boy had to quickly block the older man's much more powerful attack, but he had since learned to withstand the blows.

During the boy's further attacks, Guren simply sidestepped and dodged them, causing frustration to run through him. "You aren't even fighting for real!" the black-haired boy shouted as the older man moved to the right, evading another one of Yu's strikes.

"Well, if you would actually start trying, then maybe I would." Guren taunted as he smacked the hilt of his sword into Yu's back, causing the boy to stumble.

If the slip up hadn't been bad enough, then what happened next made everything worse. Yu had been ready to counterattack when the most unexpected thing happened: his shoe got stuck in the mud. A surprised shout left the boy's mouth as he felt his foot slip out of the stuck shoe, causing him to land face first in the mud.

Yu looked up at the colonel as he came over, frowning in disgust at the feeling of the wet mud. "That certainly was a show of your skills," the boy groaned as Guren pointed the sword at his throat, forcing him to hold his hands up in defeat. Of course, it was a strange sight considering the fact that mud had been splattered all over the boy's outfit.

"I hate you, Itchy-nose." The mumbled insult caused Guren to stare at him for a moment before the older man laughed.

"Your insults need more work."

"S-shut up!" Yu stammered as he tried to get up from off the ground, hissing as the coldness seeped through his sock. His shoe was still stuck in the mud a few feet away, but all the boy wanted to do was get away with the small amount of pride that he had left.

"Go get cleaned up," Guren ordered as he helped the boy up from the ground. "You're making too many rookie mistakes for this part of training."

"I can't be perfect when I've only just started," Yu answered bitterly, finding that he felt the exact opposite of what he had thought at the beginning of the battle. It was a major contradiction to what he had been feeling, which made it only worse.

The boy started to stalk off the field, not even caring if he left a shoe behind. Right then, he wanted to get away as soon as possible. Guren was silent, not saying anything, and the boy silently wondered if he might have messed up so badly that-

Something smacked harshly into his already injured back, causing him to turn around with a hurt shout. "Ow!" Guren was staring at him. The boy's discarded shoe was now in the mud in front of him. "What was that for?!"

"When you're done, come back here. I'll go over what you did wrong and then we can try it again."

The answer caused the boy's green eyes to widen. He picked up the shoe, not quite sure of what to say. He was pretty sure his face was red with embarrassment, so he figured he would show some sort of respect. "A-alright."

As Yu continued towards the showers, he glanced back at Guren. The lieutenant's gaze wasn't on him and, instead, it was directed at something far beyond him, something on the other side of the field. Yu recognized the look: it was one that meant you were lost in the past. _What possibly could he be thinking about though?_

* * *

So, as promised, here is another Guren and Yu interaction. It's really fun to write these circumstances, even though I don't have much to go off of. If you've been reading the other Grains of Sand entries, then you might recognize the concept of a 'changing' training field from Guren's part. I'm not entirely sure if the idea was in the light novels, considering the fact that they aren't released in English yet and that we are essentially providing original backstories, but the concept seemed interesting enough to include. I'll be mentioning some of the other weather changes to the training area in later chapters if I can, so look forward to that! Next chapter is another interaction with Guren and Yu, although a bit more on a different subject. Also, I'm really sorry that this was later than expected; I had a lot going on over the weekend so I couldn't find time to update. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As Yu looked at the scene in front of him, he knew it had to be a cruel joke. It just had to be; there was no other logical explanation for it. The universe was just being mean to him again because, for some unexplained reason, he could never have a fully good day.

In light of this, his day had actually gone pretty well. He didn't get as beat up by Guren during training and, afterwards, he had been given time off to relax. That hadn't been normal, but it was welcome. The boy would never admit it, but the almost constant days of training did take a strain on his body.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon that his day had gone downhill. He had made his way towards the lunchroom when he knew it was time for dinner, but…

"Hmm?" Guren seemed to notice his strange behavior after five minutes through the process of eating. "What's wrong, kid?"

Yu was currently staring at his plate, not having even moved to touch his spoon. Even the utensil seemed to mock him, and his thoughts traveled backwards. Sitting in a bowl in front of him was a relatively good amount of curry.

"You have to be joking," the words slipped out in a whisper as nausea threatened him. His heart seemed to be beating too hard, too loud as he closed his eyes, feeling the sheer amount of emotion threaten to surface.

Guren stared at him in silence, not saying anything. When the black-haired boy did move to leave, the man grabbed his sleeve. "Where are you going?" his words had a neutral tone to them, but Yu didn't ponder much on it. If he didn't leave soon…

"I'm not hungry," he whispered, shrugging off the lieutenant's grip as he left the room. Finding his way back to the room he stayed in wasn't necessarily hard. The boy wasn't even sure why he went back to his room in the first place. He couldn't be alone; he knew they were probably monitoring him and the door didn't lock anyways.

When he got back to the room, he slammed the door shut and curled up on his bed, wrapping the blanket around him as he struggled not to cry. He hated feeling weak; he hated what a simple reminder could reduce him to.

Guren had apparently decided to follow him; this was confirmed when the door to the room opened, revealing the older man. His face was still an unreadable mask as he stared at the boy.

"What exactly was that about?" the question caused Yu to hide his face within the blanket as the memories assaulted him again. He didn't answer, which caused the lieutenant to continue. "Food is too valuable in this time; we can't have you wasting-"

"You can have it. I don't want any." Yu felt some amount of anger at the man's words, but he couldn't bother to put that into his response. He felt irritable, finding his thoughts trapped in the past. Akane would often chide them if they wasted food. Even the night that they had tried to escape, he knew that she had been thrilled when she awoke to both him and Mika eating what she had cooked.

A moment of silence stretched at his interruption, but Guren didn't seem to want to give up easily. If chiding him didn't work, then normally his second default was taunting.

"If you want to get revenge on the vampires, then you're going to have to keep your strength up," the older man's words were surprisingly calm, not trying to annoy the boy like he had thought. Another stretch of silence caused the lieutenant to sigh irritably. "Look, I don't have time to look after a child that-"

"Then just leave me alone!" Yu shouted, feeling fed up with everything as he pulled the blanket tighter around him. "If you have something else more worth your time, then go do that!"

Guren probably hadn't been expecting his response; the older man didn't answer. Yu had expected the man to leave, especially when he heard footsteps on the flooring, but he didn't expect what Guren said next.

"I see you've been writing things down."

"Huh?" the unexpected words caused the boy to peek out from the blanket, seeing the lieutenant open the journal on his desk and begin to read. The sight caused anger to run through him again. "Hey, give it back! You can't read that!"

Guren held the journal above his head when the twelve year old came running over to retrieve it. "If you didn't want me reading it, then you really should have hid it." The man's tone was still neutral as he stared down at Yu; the boy was frantically jumping to try and reach the journal.

Yu knew that someday, at some point in the future, Guren would probably use the moment against him as blackmail. The boy was truly acting like a child, glaring angrily at the older man with tears streaming down his face. The blanket still wrapped tightly around him couldn't hide his disheveled black hair.

Guren finally sat the journal back on the desk; the answer to this action was that the black-haired boy grabbed the book and held it close to him. He didn't want the man reading it again or taunting him about it. What Guren did next caused Yu to stiffen in surprise: the older man bent down and pulled the boy close to him in a hug. The action was so unexpected that he simply accepted it for a moment. The weight of everything crashed down on him again, causing the boy to bury his face in the man's shoulder as he cried.

"Man, it seems like every kid has a trigger by food nowadays," Guren's mutter came when the worst of Yu's emotional vomit moment was done. The boy didn't know what he meant by the words, at least in a larger scale, but it didn't really matter. All he wanted right then was some sort of assurance that things would be alright.

The black-haired boy leaned away from Guren, feeling embarrassed once again by the whole incident. The lieutenant sighed, running a hand through his bangs. "You need to go back to being your over-confident self. I don't think I can handle much more if you turn into a crybaby too."

"I'm not a crybaby," Yu's slightly irritated response caused the older man to ruffle a hand through the boy's already-messy hair. He swatted the hand away in annoyance, gripping the journal closer.

"There, that's better."

Guren stood up, probably intending to leave the room. The man's hand was on the doorknob when his comment had fully sunk into the boy's mind. "What did you mean by 'too'? And the food trigger comment?"

"Ah, I mentioned something a bit too early," Guren's comment seemed more towards himself as he looked back at the boy. "I'll tell you when you're older."

The stereotypical response caused Yu to grow angry again for many hours after the man had left.

* * *

Well, I entirely meant to update this two days ago, so that I could try and get back on a Sunday updating schedule, but that obviously did not happen. I guess the updates will be weekly… on whatever day I can remember to update~! College has been really rough this semester (and it's only the start!) so please bear with me everyone! Alright… in terms of the chapter, I really wanted to write something with a 'food trigger' scene (for a lack of better wording) and I also wanted to bring back the journal, so that was the main focus. Plus more Yu and Guren father-son time! Also, I dropped a hint at something in the end. It's not in the original universe (as far as I know) and more will be revealed later, but does anyone have any guesses as to what Guren meant? Hint: We are talking about a non-original, main character here~! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and please let me know your thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	6. Chapter 6

**nido (Guest):** Thank you for reading despite the language barrier! Your comments helped me to continue despite not getting much feedback, so I really appreciate it! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 6

As Yu stared down at the bottom of the crevice beneath him, he honestly didn't know what he was thinking. _Today marks three weeks… since that day._ The thought caused his vision to blur a bit. What was he doing here? How had he gotten here in the first place? He didn't remember.

It was early in the morning; in fact, he knew that he should have been at his daily training session with Guren. The idea didn't stir anything in him. Instead, there was just a deep emptiness, small amounts of pain surfacing every now and then.

Despite his improvements - despite everything that he had promised - the pain had begun to swallow him whole. It increased each day until he felt like he had felt enough. Several hours later, he found himself standing on the edge of the crevice.

Maybe… maybe everyone wouldn't hate him if he didn't manage to kill a vampire. Like he had told Mika, he knew it was impossible. Whatever allowed Guren and the others to kill a vampire – if that claim was true – it must have been because they were different than him. _If I couldn't stop my family from being killed by one, then what's the point?_

As he wavered on the edge of the crevice, something seemed to move in the bushes across the cavern. He caught a glimpse of a shadow before closer footsteps grabbed his attention. They came from behind him, hurried and uneven. The voice that accompanied the short, almost panicked breaths was one that was familiar.

"What do you think you're doing?" Guren's voice came from a few feet behind him. Yu didn't turn to look at him; instead he continued to stare at the empty space an inch away from him.

"I don't know," his answer was a whisper, but no amount of emotion was brought forth from the words. It was the truth; he didn't know what he was doing.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing," Guren's footsteps got closer, betraying the way he was trying to sneak towards the boy. "It's not the answer."

"I know that," the more the black-haired boy talked, the more he knew that he wasn't going to do anything. Guren's words were right too.

"Then what's causing you to even consider it?"

 _My family's gone and I'm too weak to get revenge for them. I keep looking for them, but they aren't here anymore. I miss them so badly._ Yu didn't voice any of his thoughts. Guren's footsteps came closer to him.

"If you go through with this – if you think it's truly what you want – then you realize that you are running away, right?"

Yu turned around, feeling a spark of anger, wanting to yell at him, wanting to let him know that he wasn't running away. When he turned, he felt his foot slip and fear seized his heart when he realized that he was actually going to fall. Before he could succumb to gravity, Guren caught his arm and pulled him forward. He slumped against the man, kneeling on the ground.

The lieutenant dragged him away from the edge of the crevice, making sure that the boy wouldn't slip again. Yu heard his heartbeat in his ears, finding that he felt ill at what almost had happened.

"I-I can't help but think that I ran away. T-that I couldn't save them. I wasn't strong enough and I let them d-"

"Despite what you think – whatever happened in there – it was meant to happen," Guren interrupted him before he could continue. "You were right where you were supposed to be, and I'm sorry for that."

The older man's words brought back the memory of the night he had escaped. Guren had said something about a prophecy. Right then, Yu didn't really bother much with what that meant. Did that mean that there was nothing he could have done to save them? Was it not his fault? Couldn't he have done anything different? He didn't receive an answer to his questions.

When the boy was able to stand – and Guren had actually allowed him to walk without worry of falling over the edge again – he finally found his voice. "I-I'm not running away."

Guren seemed generally surprised at the words, but he gave a small smile. "That's right. Don't lose sight of your goal. Your purpose is…" the man trailed off, instead leading him down the pathway. Whatever he had started to say, he wouldn't finish it. "How did you even find this place?"

The black-haired boy looked up at him, feeling tired as his memory was foggy. "I don't remember." Instead of yelling at him, Guren actually seemed relieved at this.

"Good. That means I don't have to worry about you coming back."

More rustling in the bushes caused him to glance back towards the crevice. A shadow was visible for a moment before it disappeared. That was all he ever saw; the last time he went to that place.

* * *

Well, this chapter is long, long overdue and I am sincerely sorry for that. School once again got the majority of my attention and the idea of even updating this didn't really resurface in my mind until recently. Sorry about that! As for the chapter… I think this might be the worst one I have written so far, but that's my opinion. I know Yu wouldn't necessarily kill himself, but I felt like it had to be in here. Plus, a whole ton of other tie-in universe stuff that hasn't popped up yet. Either way, I thank you all for your patience and I hope the chapter was at least worth it!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	7. Chapter 7

**Eramis8:** Glad to see that I wasn't the only one!

 **Random Person (Guest):** Thank you~! :D

* * *

Chapter 7

Sitting in a cafeteria with a bunch of other children was not how Yu wanted the day to go. When Guren had told him that he had an assignment to do, the black-haired boy had been thrilled. Getting locked inside of the lunchroom in order to talk to other children his age and 'socialize' was not what said assignment had first been about.

"Stupid Guren, forcing me into this," the boy muttered as he slumped against the table, watching the other kids interact. Yu figured that it could partially be his fault after the whole 'contemplating but not contemplating suicide' incident, but that still didn't excuse the lieutenant for pushing him into the situation.

So far, the other children had quickly formed groups and talked amongst themselves. Most of them seemed to pick up on his anti-socializing and annoyed mood and quickly left him alone.

 _I don't need friends in order to get rid of the vampires. I'd rather not make a friend and lose them, just like…_ his thought trailed off when he realized how easy it was for them to turn dark. This was followed by a sigh.

"Um, excuse me?" a timid voice asked from his left, causing him to look over at the owner of the voice. "Do you mind if I sit here too?"

The person speaking to him was a girl with medium length, auburn-brown hair. She was smiling shyly, obviously uncomfortable, but no one else was with her. It seemed like she was in the same – or at least similar – boat that he was, and he would feel bad if he said no and hurt her feelings. "Sure, go ahead."

The girl nodded, seemingly not expecting his answer to be so nonchalant. She sat down next to him and the silence resumed. Yu continued to observe the other children with boredom.

"Uh, so what's your name?" the girl asked timidly from beside him, her gaze on him as he turned to look at her. When their eyes met, she looked away with a small blush of embarrassment. "My name's Kiyomi."

 _I can't get away with not talking, can I?_ Inwardly, he sighed again but knew he probably should answer her. Guren was probably spying on him again, so maybe if he made an effort, then he would be able to leave.

"I'm Yuichiro," he answered and his gaze traveled back to the other children. They seemed to be able to converse so easily, like they were ignorant of what they would feel if any of the others that they became friends with would suddenly disappear.

"You couldn't find anyone to talk to?" she sounded a bit more confident this time. Her tone of voice made him glance at her again. Something about her was sickeningly familiar. The way she tilted her head in curiosity…

"No, I'm not much of a socializer." She seemed to grow uncomfortable at his words, like she had passed over a forbidden boundary. "You didn't want to talk to them either?"

"O-oh, I would like to but… I find it's hard to talk to some of them. I tried and my mind just went blank." Kiyomi laughed, looking a bit nervous again. "You seemed like someone I could talk to though."

 _Seriously? She thinks I'm personable, out of all these people?_

"Ah," he wasn't quite sure what to say; her words had stumped him. It wasn't like it was hard for him to talk to people, but once again, there was the issue of attachment. Another bout of silence formed between them, but it was stopped when the girl pulled something from a small bag sitting beside her.

"Do you like to read? I always carry some form of a book around." Kiyomi showed him the small book that she had pulled out. On the cover was a colorful title page and the inside was filled with pictures and text bubbles. The book reminded him of the manga that Mika used to talk about.

"I… didn't have much of a chance to when I was younger, but I guess so." He had hesitated when she opened to the first page, finding it interesting. He quickly realized a problem with the book though: he could barely read it. It was another thing to curse the vampires for: not educating them.

"Would you like to read it? I don't mind sharing," the girl smiled at him, seeming more comfortable now that they had some sort of common ground. She seemed to remember something though and pulled another small book out of her bag.

"What's that?" Yu couldn't help the curiosity that crept through him. So far, this didn't seem like it would be too bad of an assignment…

"It's my notepad. I like to write down the names of people I meet and their favorite food." She smiled at him again as she put his name down into the notepad. It didn't seem like such a bizarre thing to do, but…

"Why the 'food' part?"

"Uh…" she blushed a bit at the question, looking at the table in front of them. "I really like to cook and when I meet someone, if I could learn how to make their favorite food, then maybe it could make them happy at some point."

The black-haired boy blinked in surprise, feeling sick once again as the similarities that the girl shared clicked into his mind. _Akane liked to cook too…_

"I just remembered that I have somewhere to go," Yu said as he stood up, not looking at her. Another realization hit him: none of these people were like him. Sure, he didn't know what their stories were and what had happened to them, but they weren't a part of what he was. They hadn't been captured by the vampires, so they were much more normal than he was.

"Ah, it was nice to meet you, Yuichiro-san." She gave a small bow as he left the table and walked towards the door, finding that it wasn't locked like Guren had said it would be. _Figures. Why would I trust most of what he says?_

The building that he had been taken to was practically on the other side of the 'city' so he figured he would go for a walk instead. It probably didn't matter if he was there or not when Guren came to check on him; he just knew that he didn't want to get looped into a situation like that again.

* * *

Well, this chapter was a bit more on a different note. Once again bringing in some of the stuff mentioned in the manga (the first volume) for Yu remembering certain things – I don't think the 'manga' reference by Mika was in the anime, if I remember correctly. Kiyomi was more of an… OC, I guess. Or maybe she stems more from my awkwardness with social situations… Either way, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!

-AnimeWolfGirl9

Note: For anyone following my other continuous Seraph of the End fanfiction "Just Your Type," I will be updating soon, I'm just having to figure a few things out. Thanks for your patience!


	8. Chapter 8

**Eramis8:** Ah, the hedgehog's dilemma! I wrote the last chapter without even realizing that it was based around that :D

* * *

Chapter 8

As Yu slipped on the mud and down the 'hill' of the training facility, he had a bad feeling that this was going to be a regular occurrence. On top of what they had been going over for the past few months, Guren had decided to add uneven surfaces to that list.

"Ugh…" Yu groaned as he lay on his back, finding that hitting the ground while slipping down a hill seemed more painful than just falling to the ground; that, and mud was now smeared down the back of his shirt. "Why does it have to be mud?"

"You're lucky I didn't program it to be ice for today's lesson." Guren stood over him, a smug smile on his face. Yu stared up at the man, feeling embarrassment from what would likely be called another 'rookie mistake' run through him.

"There's no way that could-"

"Now you have a sneak peek of tomorrow's lesson," Guren cut in with another smug look before he could finish. Several moments of silence passed before either of them spoke.

"You're a jerk, Itchy-nose."

"Still going with that one?"

As Yu finally decided to stand up and attempt to wipe the mud from the back of his clothes, Guren coughed, looking as though he wanted to say something important. Yu had no idea why the man had to _cough_ in order to get that across, but he had seen stranger things.

"Since you're showing some decent amount of improvement and I'm such a nice guy-"

"Sure, you're a ' _nice guy_.'" Yu interrupted sarcastically, but the man simply ignored him, continuing his statement.

"-I might be able to bring you beyond the city on a mock patrol." When Guren's sentence had finished, the black-haired boy froze, not quite believing what he was hearing. A mock patrol? But that was basically saying he could-

"Seriously?! You're not joking, right?!" Yu's excited shouts caused Guren to frown in annoyance.

"Of course I'm serious. Sheesh, what's with you and not listening the first time?" The boy apparently wasn't listening; instead he was practically celebrating in the background, causing the lieutenant to sigh. The boy hadn't changed much at all, if anything he seemed more determined than ever.

"I can't believe this," his green eyes shone with excitement as Guren grabbed the top of the boy's head, stopping his rampaging excitement and keeping him in place.

"I said 'might.' I have to get it approved with the higher ups first."

That statement alone sucked some of the joy out of the announcement. "The higher ups?" Yu hadn't necessarily known that anyone was in a higher position than Guren; in fact, the boy had thought with the way Guren bossed people around that the lieutenant _was_ the boss.

"Yeah, you get the easy part of this." Annoyance practically radiated off of the older man at the thought of what was coming. "I get to talk to a bunch of arrogant, sticks in the mud."

Yu's eyes widened before the boy actually started to laugh. What Guren had said seemed like a funny pun, given their circumstances, but apparently the lieutenant wasn't in the mood for that today.

"What's so funny?"

"For once, you're getting what you deserve!" Yu's laughter only increased as he found the situation more and more amusing. Finally, it was time Guren got some sort of stress or payback.

"I can't believe this…" Guren sighed as he listened to his student's words, looking as though he was getting a headache. Yu got to laugh for a few more seconds before he was pushed back down the hill. To say that the rest of the day was torture was an understatement.

* * *

Ugh, this chapter is really short… and late. I was on vacation though and the internet stunk, so sorry about that! Hmm… I don't really have much to say on this chapter either. This was one of the scenes that popped into my head when I first got the idea for it, so it's more visual in my head than actually written (hence why it's short since there isn't a lot of detail); in fact, it would work very well as a chibi scene~! It's also the prelude to one of my favorite chapters coming up (chapter 10), so what was introduced in this will be continued then. I hope everyone is looking forward to what is coming~! I also hope this wasn't too much of a letdown, since I was prewriting some chapters for this when I was on vacation… Either way, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	9. Chapter 9

**Eramis8:** Haha, well we all know that he still doesn't years later :D

* * *

Chapter 9

"What are you going to force me into this time?" Yu asked with annoyance as Guren came to him with another sheet of paper. Last time, it had been the dreaded cafeteria socializing incident. If it got any worse than that, the black-haired boy figured he was going to find someone else to help him with his revenge.

"Since you were uncooperative last time in a group, we – I mean I – figured that it might be better for a one-on-one introduction session," Guren had obviously stumbled over a few things, but what was he thinking? _How is that even remotely a good idea?_

"Sounds better than last time, but no thanks. I don't need…" Yu trailed off when he realized Guren was writing on said piece of paper that he had brought. In fact, it seemed like the lieutenant had brought a whole packet of papers. The man's current actions could only mean one thing. "Are you seriously writing down my answers?"

"Hey, it wasn't my idea, but she insisted I had to." Guren continued to write down what he said, making an uncomfortable silence follow. Why did he keep referring to things that he wouldn't answer?

"Hey, who's this 'she' you keep talking about?" Way to be blunt, but Yu already had a short fuse that day. He wasn't sure why – probably lack of sleep and just waking up on the wrong side of the bed in general – but he didn't want this to go on any longer than it had to.

"Hmm?" Guren glanced up from writing, giving him a look. "You don't get to know everything from the get-go. That's why rankings exist."

"I can't understand what you're talking about when you don't explain things. You're that complicated."

Yu sent an annoyed jab at the lieutenant, wishing that the older man would leave him alone. Once he did, the boy figured that he would at least try and sleep. The nightmares didn't bother him during the day, but wasn't that basically turning his sleeping schedule to one similar to a vampire?

"Fine," Guren sighed in defeat, looking like he didn't have much patience today either. Something – or someone – must have gotten on his nerves. "She's a friend of mine that's working with another kid your age."

The black-haired boy was silent for a moment, surprise entering him. Another kid his age? What was that supposed to mean? For once, his interest was caught by something different.

"What does that have to do with my assignment?" Yu used the word 'assignment' loosely; it seemed like that's what Guren would call anything in order to trick him into whatever it was he wanted.

"Like I said: a one-on-one introduction."

"So, I just have to talk to… the other kid." Now that the boy thought about it, he didn't know anything about whoever he was supposed to talk to. Sure, the idea of 'bonding' with someone else still made him nervous, but maybe it wouldn't be as bad.

"The kid's a boy, but I wouldn't expect you two to have much in common except for tragic backstories." Yu decided to ignore the whole 'backstories' comment. He didn't have the energy to get into another fight today. "Apparently, Yoichi is really sensitive, empathetic, extremely apologetic, and a crybaby. You guys will get along just fine."

Guren didn't sound too sure of the idea himself, but Yu figured that the lieutenant was only highlighting the bad aspects. Still, he wasn't quite sure about meeting this kid. "You sure make me want to go through with this," the sarcastic comment was ignored by Guren, who stood up a moment later, seemingly done with his writing.

"Well, you don't have much of a choice on the matter. You have a while to think about it." As Guren walked out of the room, the black-haired boy thought he heard the man mumble something else. "Besides, she's still trying to convince the kid to go through with this."

Yu stared at where the lieutenant had been, disbelief running through him as he flopped down on his bed. Another social interaction he would have to go through with… _Unless – and I really hope this is true – whoever this 'Yoichi' is chickens out…_

* * *

Well, another short (and late!) chapter, but this one was the big reveal! For anyone who guessed on the 'guest' character, Yoichi will be appearing in Chapter 12! Yes, we are talking about the same brunette archer from the anime (and manga), so you may have a few questions like… how in the world does this even work in the timeline? Wouldn't Yu and Yoichi remember each other if they had met at a younger age? To answer that, well… not everything in the Grains of Sand series is canon, but AnimeWolfGirl16 and I are trying to make it as much as we can (without much influence from the prequel series). Except for one big, really major thing I might have messed up on, but you guys won't have to worry about it unless you end up reading Yoichi's story :) As for their encounter, certain… things occur that make this event still possible, but I don't want to spoil everything, so you will just have to wait! Now I would like to know, did anyone guess correctly?

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	10. Chapter 10

**Eramis8:** Good guess! We'll just have to see next chapter… :p

* * *

Chapter 10

"You didn't actually OK this with the higher ups, did you?" When Yu asked the question and Guren didn't answer, he knew that the older man was the cause of everything bad that had happened to him that day.

The day had finally arrived when Yu was to be taken out on his 'mock patrol.' At first, he was extremely excited because he knew that Guren wouldn't even be taking him outside the city if he wasn't capable of it. His teacher was finally recognizing his skills and that made him quite happy about the whole thing.

Something should have been screaming 'this day isn't going to be perfect like you thought it would be' from the moment he left the city. Beyond the area where he had lived for the past few months, demolished buildings and broken down cars littered the horizon. Yu had been slightly mortified and in awe at the scene, causing any logical thought process to fly the coop.

Guren had said that there was supposed to be no monsters; the two of them were just going to take a small walk around the outer boundaries of the city. To say that Yu was both excited and nervous when said monster that wasn't supposed to exist appeared was an understatement. They had gone a bit further than the lieutenant had first planned – the black-haired boy didn't want to admit that it was his fault for that – and some strange creature had appeared.

Before leaving the city's boundaries, Yu had been given a small sword. This one was made out of metal, not wood, and he was given the instructions by Guren to 'not use it unless your life is in danger' and 'don't accidently chop off your limbs.' Those seemed like pretty fair rules in his opinion, but he figured that a random monster sighting was a good chance to use the sword.

As the black-haired boy had jumped towards the monster, Guren had muttered something along the lines of "patrols never go like I plan them" and, long story short, Yu got his butt whooped by said monster and was now lying on the ground, staring up at the raining sky.

"This never was a good idea," Guren muttered to himself as he came towards the boy, who had yet to get up from the ground. The terrain had been slippery, but Yu knew that he hadn't slipped. He simply got smacked by the monster, that was all.

 _It still hurts so badly!_ The thought caused the boy to grimace at his aching body. Where exactly had he gone wrong…?

"What were you thinking, jumping into things like that? I swear you have a death wish…" Guren was already chiding him, standing next to the fallen boy and ready to move on. "Come on, let's head back."

The lieutenant moved to walk back to where they had come from and Yu had been quick to follow, or he would have, except for the pain that squeezed his side when he moved. So the boy decided to lie on the ground for a few more seconds, just until he could manage the pain. His teacher apparently didn't have that kind of patience.

"Hey kid, get up. We're heading back." Guren had walked back over to the boy and was now prodding him with his foot, which would have been a normal, Guren thing to do except for the fact that the man was kicking right where the pain was centered at. The boy's arms instinctively went to shield his side when the pain got worse.

"I don't think I can get up…" it was a pitiful statement – one that Yu normally would have never caught himself saying – but he really meant it. He had a high tolerance for pain, but this seemed like it was on a whole other league.

Guren stared at him, disbelieving for a moment. "What are you talking about? Of course you can get up."

"No, I really don't think I-" Yu had started to try and do what the older man had said, resulting in a curse of pain when he failed. The boy really didn't want to move. It felt like knives were cutting into his side, leaving behind a burning mass of aches.

"You can't be serious," the older man looked up at the sky as it poured down rain, sighing a moment later as he bent down. "Alright then, this is probably going to hurt but-"

"Wait, what exactly are you-?" The black-haired boy didn't get to finish his question, but it was answered rather quickly. Guren had bent down and picked the boy up, supporting his upper back and legs. The movement caused the pain in his side to increase and he released another groan as tears threatened his vision.

"It wouldn't be wise to move you like this during the rain. One slip and it could make the whole situation worse." Guren mumbled to himself as the older man looked around. Yu wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but couldn't bother to ask. He felt winded, most likely from the fall, and he didn't want to waste his breath asking.

His teacher finally settled on one of the abandoned buildings. They were now holed up inside the living room, where a small fire had been lit. Their clothing was damp with the rain, which forced them to remove whatever wasn't necessary in order to let it dry.

Getting his jacket off had been quite the ordeal. Anytime that Yu even attempted to move – and sometimes even breathe – the pain in his upper side would increase. Now that he thought about it, the pain was in his side, but more towards the center of his body. He just wished that it would go away.

Once the removal of his jacket was complete, he had been too exhausted to even try hanging it up. The jacket was now lying on the floor, excess water pooling beneath it. Guren had probably watched the whole ordeal from the shadows; this was confirmed by what he said next.

"Yu, sit up a bit," the words seemed utterly impossible to the twelve and a half year old, who was now spread out on the couch, struggling to catch his breath.

"I don't want to," the boy muttered, knowing he sounded exactly like a whiny kid. That didn't stop him from refusing the action though, knowing that it would only cause him more pain.

Footsteps caused his green eyes to open as Guren knelt down by the couch, a pillow in hand. His gaze seemed genuinely concerned as his hand made its way beneath the boy's back. "Come on," the added lift of the man's hand forced Yu to move his upper body just enough for the pillow to be slipped behind him. The black-haired boy hissed in pain at the movement, taking quick breaths when he was settled on the inclined surface.

 _You just made things worse,_ the boy thought as a glare was sent towards the man. The pain had been accompanied by a pinching sensation in his side, making his resolve to not move strengthen.

"Yu, where does it hurt?" Guren's voice cut through the pain, surprisingly calm and gentle. When the boy didn't answer, he continued. "If you don't tell me, I'm going to have to find out on my own."

The words sounded like a threat at that moment, but Yu was too exhausted to speak. For once in his life, he wished that Guren was a mind reader. _It's my side, stupid Guren. Can't you tell that?_

When the man didn't receive any further comments, his gloved hand skimmed over Yu's torso and then down to his side. When Guren's fingers bumped into the pain in his side, Yu felt his legs instinctively try to curl up as he hissed again.

"Right here?" The older man mumbled to himself, making sure the boy's legs didn't smack him in the face. Yu grew increasingly annoyed when the pressure didn't leave.

"Right there," he repeated, finding that it was getting increasingly harder to breathe. When Guren had started to roll up the boy's undershirt, however, he started to freak out. "What the heck are you-?"

"Relax," the man's order was stern as he forced Yu to stay still. The undershirt was rolled up, revealing his side. The black-haired boy couldn't see much from his current angle, but it looked bruised.

"That's… just great," the boy muttered with a sigh as he tried to lie back against the pillow further. The sudden exhalation of air seemed to catch in his throat, causing a fit of coughing that made his vision cloud with spots of pain. When his vision had cleared a bit, he felt the weight of another pillow being pressed to his chest.

"Let me know when you feel like coughing next time. You could have just made it worse." Guren's words were laced with concern and annoyance, causing the boy to stay silent. Sure, he wanted to spit out another remark, but he didn't have the energy to as the man disappeared into another room.

Yu continued to take shallow breaths, trying to fill his body with enough oxygen to breathe. Any other form of breathing hurt too badly. Guren came back into the room with a melting bag of ice, which the man then wrapped in his discarded jacket. As the lieutenant held the bag against the boy's side, he seemed displeased again.

"Yu, take a few deep breaths." The man had seemed to notice that he felt on the verge of hyperventilation. "I don't need you passing out on me."

"Easy… for you to… say." The black-haired boy responded between breaths, trying to do as the man had said. Every time that he would extend his breathing ended in either it being cut off because of the pressure in his side or another fit of coughing.

Guren glanced impatiently out the window, staring at the dwindling rain. Yu could practically see him weighing his options of leaving and getting help or attempting to carry the boy back. The black-haired boy would have much preferred to stay where he was.

The boy panicked a bit when Guren suddenly stood up, hand on his sword hilt as he stared at the doorway. The door opened, revealing a figure that the man apparently knew; his face turned to one of exasperation.

"What are you doing out here?" If Yu didn't know any better, he would have guessed that his teacher sounded angry. It might have just been the pain messing with him, since he thought that any sort of help was good at the moment.

"When you missed the briefing and didn't come back, I-" a woman's voice floated towards him as he tried to lift his head up. She glanced towards him, her eyes widening with the same concern that Guren had been showing moments earlier. "Oh my… what happened?"

The woman had quickly made her way over to the couch as several other people crowded through the door as well, most likely other members of her squad. Long hair draped down her shoulders as she bent down next to him, but Yu didn't remember anything else. He blacked out a moment later.

* * *

I know it's a bit late, but here's my favorite chapter so far. I have no idea why, but it was just so much fun to write~! Apologies to poor Yu-chan, who I just seem to torture in nearly every chapter one way or another. Next chapter we get to see what happens with the 'meeting' for Yoichi and Yu (if the former even decides to show up)! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know your thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	11. Chapter 11

**Eramis8:** Haha, yeah I suppose the situation could have been much worse!

 **Pearl (Guest):** Thanks! And cliff hanger be gone! :p

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Chapter 11

"Yu, this is Sayuri. She's going to be watching after you for a few hours while I have to run some errands." Guren had introduced the light-haired woman beside him early in the morning. Yu had been in the recovery unit for ten days now and he was already sick of it. They didn't let him do much other than sleep and take periodic walks.

The introduction had been brief, with the lieutenant leaving the room shortly after mumbling about a make-up meeting. The room had lapsed into a strange silence with Sayuri sitting in the chair beside his bed.

"So, how are you feeling?" The woman's gentle voice cut through his non-existent thoughts, causing him to look over at her. Her eyes studied him sympathetically, causing an embarrassed blush to appear on his face.

"Horrible." The one word didn't really sum up what he felt very well. It was true that he felt better than the day that they had went on patrol, but he felt stir crazy with the lack of activity. Plus, he hadn't been allowed to sleep fully lying down, so his back was starting to ache from sitting at an angle for so long.

"That's to be expected, but I'm sorry about that," she nodded, her loose strands of hair waving with the action. "You seem to be recovering well though."

"I guess so," he mumbled, feeling the slight strain of the gel-like brace around his abdomen. The doctors had put the brace on him days before and – despite the fact that he was getting used to it – that didn't necessarily mean that the black-haired boy had to like it.

Sayuri observed his behavior as she watched him. "That's going to have to stay on until your rib is mended. It allows your body to heal more naturally but helps to prevent any further injury, to an extent."

Apparently after Yu had passed out, the squad that had arrived helped Guren to move the boy back to the city and then to the hospital. The black-haired boy had been admitted into a room with a broken rib, multiple minor wounds, and a high fever. He didn't really remember all of that though and had only gained full awareness the third day into recovery.

 _This was all Guren's fault,_ the thought was selfish and bitter, but Yu honestly didn't know who to blame more: the lieutenant or himself. Sayuri seemed to sense his conflicted thoughts.

"You know, Guren stayed by you for so long that I thought he was going to fall sick from his own lack of care," a smile was on her face as she gazed out the window. "And when you finally woke up, I could just tell how happy he was. He's even the one that pushed the doctors to get you that brace, despite it not being military grade medical equipment."

"You mean that he threatened them, right?" Even as Yu asked the question, his mind had already formed an image of his teacher demanding such a thing. The absurdity of the thought, as well as the viewpoint that it conflicted with, caused him to burst out laughing. This unexpectedly caused another bout of coughing (for him, it was the third time that day, but by the way Sayuri acted, Guren probably hadn't informed her of that). The other occupant of the room moved quickly to hold another pillow against him; apparently they still had to do that…

"It's nice that you were laughing and all…" the woman glanced towards the doorway, almost as though she was watching for someone. "I would rather not have you break your rib again."

"Sorry, sorry," the black-haired boy was still recovering from the laughing and coughing fits, but he soon settled down, leaning his head back against the pillow. "It's kind of weird though. I thought he only saw me as someone to use to defeat the vampires."

The words weren't entirely one-hundred percent true; Yu had seen on countless occasions that the older man seemed to care, but it never really had sunk in much. He didn't want to get attached to anyone again, afraid that he would lose them. _Besides, the vampires have to pay either way, and I'd rather be able to take part in that._

"He really does care, you know?" Sayuri's voice was soft as she sat back down, a contemplative expression on her face. "He doesn't show it much, but he cares."

The words continued to ring in Yu's mind for the rest of the day as they talked. Now that he thought about it, Guren had higher ups to answer to for the patrol incident. The boy winced involuntarily, hoping that they wouldn't go too harshly on the lieutenant.

When Guren had made it back to his recovery room in the late evening, Sayuri had taken her leave. The two of them were silent, neither saying anything for a moment before Yu broke the silence.

"So, do I have to find someone else to teach me how to destroy the vampires?"

Guren gave a tired laugh as he sat down, amused by the words. "No, the higher ups couldn't even fire me if they wanted to. I'm practically at the lowest point I can go and, if they did, then I don't know who else they would enjoy picking on."

Yu felt relieved at the answer, remembering Sayuri's words earlier that day. Guren had quickly dozed off in his seat, proving just how tired he must have been. The boy simply took comfort in the fact that he wouldn't have to be alone again.

* * *

Hi everyone! So… I know I've been sort of absent from this fanfiction for a while, but I've been swamped with schoolwork and preparing for finals. Plus, I kind of got sick and had no motivation to write 0_0 I also completely forgot about this chapter with a possibly OOC Sayuri (she's harder to write than I thought!), so please enjoy this before the chapter with Yoichi. Sorry for the absence and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	12. Chapter 12

**Eramis8:** Haha, yeah maybe just a little… at least until Guren does stuff that makes him not want to :p

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Chapter 12

Yu had been discharged from the recovery unit for a day before he was informed that he would have to attend the 'one-on-one introduction session' with Yoichi on the following day. He still had to wear the brace for another week, since apparently wearing it for six weeks in a row hadn't completely healed him. He had been quick to wonder why they were releasing him from recovery when he wasn't entirely healed, but no one had really given him an answer.

"Oh look, you heal like a normal human being," were the first words out of Guren's mouth when he saw the boy the day of the 'meeting.' Yu had instantly been amused by the words, giving the lieutenant a glance as they walked down the hallway.

"And why wouldn't I?" The question was perfectly reasonable, but Guren simply shrugged. The meeting was supposed to take place in a room conjoined by two hallways. The older man had informed him that both Guren and Yoichi's 'caretaker' would be watching in a separate viewing room.

"You're strange enough not to," Guren answered as they stopped in front of the door. "You also seem to attract trouble like a magnet."

"Are you sure that you're not the one who is attracting it? I always seem to be with you when something goes wrong."

"Just go, kid."

Their light banter ended quickly as Guren pushed the black-haired boy through the doorway and into the room. The room was boring in context and contained no furniture. It also seemed as though Yu was the first one there.

A click sounded from behind him, but it wasn't in signifying that the door was being closed; this one was the sound of the door locking. His eyes widened as he turned around, looking through the small, circular viewing window at the lieutenant. Guren was giving him an amused smile; the older man was walking back down the hall.

 _He probably locked the door to make sure I didn't escape. I'm starting to regret this._ The thought caused him to look around the room again. On the other side of the room was another identical doorway. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until a mop of brown hair appeared in the door's window.

"Huh?" the surprised exclamation popped out of the boy's mouth at the partial scene. Yes, there was indeed a mop of brown hair in the window, but a woman was standing out there as well. She must have been Yoichi's caretaker, but her appearance looked somewhat familiar. The black-haired boy didn't pay much attention to it though.

The door creaked open hesitantly as someone else walked into the room. It was the owner of the messy brown hair: a boy who looked to be around his age with light eyes. The kid was slightly shorter than Yu was and was dressed in gray pants and a matching shirt.

 _Now that I think about it, are we actually wearing the same clothes…?_ The black-haired boy couldn't dwell on that thought for long. The other boy had noticed him and, with a nervous smile on his face, came closer.

"It's nice to meet you," the boy said with a small, polite bow. The action surprised Yu; no one had really done that much since this whole mess started, and especially not in the vampire city. "My name is-"

"Yoichi. Guren told me." Yu interrupted before the boy could continue, feeling slightly out of place. The lieutenant had said that the boy acted very unusual for someone who had been through a ton of bad incidents, but this was…

"Then you're Yu-kun?" the brown-haired boy tilted his head to the side a bit, still smiling nervously, but what threw Yu off was the honorific… and the nickname.

 _He's giving me a nickname two seconds into meeting me?!_ The thought caused some sort of panic to go through him; what was wrong with this kid?! No one had really used that sort of nickname for him since Mik-

"Just Yuichiro is fine," he answered, trying to get the reminder out of his head. So far, this meeting wasn't very inviting. _And they could have at least given us somewhere to sit._

"Alright, Yu-kun," Yoichi seemed to realize his mistake before he said anything else; the boy bowed again. "A-ah, gomennasai! I messed up again. This would be easier if we could use last names, but Mahiru-oneesama said that we had to go on first name basis and-"

Ten minutes later and Yu was ready to get out of the room… or kill something. The brown-haired boy was driving him nuts with the honorifics and personal questions! It wasn't like the other boy didn't talk about himself, but why couldn't he get the hint that Yu didn't want to talk about the past?

"Hey Guren! What's up with this kid?! You didn't say that he was sickeningly polite!" Yu shouted up at the ceiling, ready for the 'experiment' to be done. He knew he wouldn't receive an answer, but the man had mentioned that they were watching the exchange.

A surprised noise came from the boy behind him. "Guren-oniisama said that?" Yoichi's confusion was evident, but the next thing he said was more surprising. "Mahiru-oneesama said you could be kind of blunt and easy to anger."

 _Is he indirectly insulting me?!_ The thought came a moment too late, but Yu didn't turn around. Instead, the other boy's words fully sunk in… or more specifically, the honorifics he used.

"Wait, you're actually related to Guren?!" the question came out as a shout; why else would the other boy identify with the lieutenant that way if they weren't related?

"A-ah, no not exactly…"

"I don't understand any of this!" The black-haired boy shouted up at the ceiling, still not getting where the other boy was going with this. "Hey, stupid Guren! I'm ready to be done with this!"

Another few moments of shouting at the hidden cameras seemed hopeless, but Yu finally turned around when he heard a 'thud' behind him. He hadn't thought anything of the sound at first, but became clearly confused when he saw that Yoichi was passed out on the ground.

"Wha-?" the exclamation came out afterwards; why would the other boy have fainted? "Hey, Guren! What's seriously wrong with him?!"

To say that they were both removed from the room promptly after was an understatement. Yu had practically run through the door when it had opened and Guren clearly wasn't pleased. He was muttering to himself again as he watched Yoichi's caretaker carry the other boy out of the room.

Yu was pretty sure that Guren wouldn't be introducing him to anyone else like that again.

* * *

So yeah, here's the chapter I promised (finally! After forgetting about the in-between chapter and everything…). It might be a bit shorter than I first thought, but personally I imagined it as one of those funny manga shorts that authors sometimes do on their series. It might seem a bit strange now but – once we are done with the initial Grains of Sand series – I might want to tie all these random points into certain points of the show (such as, how would Yu and Yoichi not necessarily remember this when they meet up again and such). Either way, I'm sorry for this chapter being a bit late, but I hope you all enjoyed it the same!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	13. Chapter 13

**Eramis8 (Guest)** : Best review referencing Pokémon that I've ever gotten! :D

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Chapter 13

For several months after the meeting, his daily routine became more solidified: waking up, training, and going to bed, with meals in between. Yu even took the time to go to the 'library' – a simple room where strategic manuscripts and other books were housed – to try and look up as much as he could on the vampires.

The books were often hard to read; he hadn't learned how to read Kanji symbols while in the vampire city, so he was stuck with the small amount of symbols he knew and the phonetic pronunciations. The documents rarely contained pictures – the most he got were rough drawings of what people thought the vampires looked like or other battle formations – so he couldn't rely on those to determine what the page was about.

The dusty room stacked with books sometimes reminded him of the house that their small group had stayed in at the vampire city. Yu and Mika had often stayed behind when the other children went out into the city, content to read in the small elevated cot they all shared. It was always peaceful; well, unless Mika would pester him, but a small ache would always form when he thought about those days.

Still, Yu found it kind of ironic that he was reading about the same subject – vampires – how many months later. The black-haired boy had found a book on vampires while in the city, taking to memorize the slightly easier-to-read information. If he tried to recall the information today, then he remembered the basics that he had proudly told his adoptive brother so many months ago.

 _Mika used to tease me about it being impossible… or about the book being manga…_ Yu adjusted his position in the chair he was sitting, knowing that his body would ache if he didn't sooner or later.

Guren had shown up slightly late to practice that day, forcing the boy to start later than normal. His routine wasn't messed up too badly, but he often wondered about the slightly frequent delays. Sure, the lieutenant most likely had other things he had to do, but the absences were becoming more frequent.

Yu, on the other hand, felt like he wasn't getting closer to completing his goal. The self-doubt had surfaced again the first day that Guren had been late – what if he's thinking I can't do it? That was his thought, his mind plagued by many more dark thoughts. Of course once Guren got to the practice room, he cleared most of the doubts away, but some still persisted.

What if he couldn't get his revenge? The fact that the vampires had killed his family still haunted him every night and the idea that he wouldn't be able to avenge their deaths weighed heavily on him. He wasn't strong enough to protect them, but he had to get stronger – if only to further that goal.

The boy shifted in the seat again, barely able to concentrate on the book of legends that he had chosen to 'read;' the term being used lightly since it contained much more advanced Kanji than he was used to. The only thing he could do was focus on the unfamiliar symbols and try to relate them with what he knew – which was next to nothing.

Once he had completed practice, Guren had released him to do 'whatever you do in the evenings,' which the older man didn't even seem to care to know. _And why should he?_ The two only had a strict agreement: Guren would train Yu and he would help to eliminate the vampires. That was all.

"That's all," the black-haired boy muttered out loud as his eyes trailed to the wall; the book that was currently held in his hands dropped to his lap with a thud. Yu didn't want to get close to anyone and yet…

 _The harder I try to avoid getting close, the more it seems to happen…_ This was unintentional – he knew that – but it presented quite a problem. He had come to realize that he was getting closer to other people the longer he interacted with them when he examined the past few months.

Yu was pretty sure that he acted differently with Guren now than he did when he first escaped the vampire city. They had gone from a strict contract to something more personal; maybe more of a father-son relationship? It bothered him greatly. _Mika… he probably would have called it that._

The dark-haired boy hadn't necessarily had a great relationship with his father – _he tried to kill me_ – so that made his relationship with Guren hard to define. If Guren was what fathers were supposed to act like… he wasn't quite sure what his opinion was on that. Was a father supposed to guide you and help you achieve your goals?

As he put the book on its designated shelf, his mind wandered back to the book he had in the vampire city. He hadn't taken it with him at the time of their escape – less things to carry made moving easier – so it would have probably still been at their house. Were the pictures still hung up on the walls? Or did someone else live in their home now?

The thought – as well as the vivid imagery that came with it – caused his more negative emotions to threaten to surface once again. Yu put the idea out of his mind the best that he could, figuring his time in the small room was coming to a close anyways.

The windows in the small hallway reflected the sunset's rays as he slowly made his way back to the room that he lived in. The walk would be a ten minute trek to the other building, but he didn't mind. His heart rang with the same promise, strong as always:

 _Mika, Akane, everyone… I'll get revenge for you, no matter what I become._

* * *

So, this was a bit of an in-between chapter. I'm running out of ideas a bit, so if you guys have anything you might want to be included, please speak now (or forever hold your peace :p ). I have about… four more chapters left (including the epilogue), so not much further to go until the end. The reason as to why this is late… I was busy and sick. Plus my Docs Manager didn't want to work for a while, so I wasn't able to upload the initial chapter document. That's all there really is to it; although, better late than never, right? Anyway, thanks to everyone for sticking with this fanfiction for so long; I really appreciate it! See you next chapter!

~AnimeWolfGirl9


	14. Chapter 14

**Eramis8:** Thanks! I was worried about it being too "filler-ish," but I'm glad it came across well.

 **Bad *** Female Fighter:** Thank you! Sorry I can't necessarily write in Guren's POV for this fanfiction, since it is Yu-chan's "Grains of Sand" portion, but AnimeWolfGirl16 is writing a "Grains of Sand" for Guren, which does tie into this. If you are interested, I suggest that you could check it out!

* * *

Chapter 14

Yu hadn't been expecting a visit from Guren. His daily routine had been pretty much accomplished and the near fourteen-year old was almost in bed when the colonel arrived. The teen had to admit that seeing Guren standing in the doorway to his room was both familiar and unsettling. After all, the lieutenant rarely visited the teen's living quarters nowadays.

The day's training hadn't gone exactly as the two of them had thought either. To make a long story short, Yu messed up on the more stealth oriented exercises, became extremely frustrated, threatened to quit in said anger, and then got threatened by Guren with the most unlikely idea: school. Just thinking about the situation put him in a bad mood again.

 _"School?!" Yu's cry of disbelief echoed through the training arena, now devoid of trees. It must have been converted back to the standard settings when he had been ranting, but he hadn't been paying much attention at the time._

 _"You didn't hear me the first time?" Guren's taunt caused another bout of irritation to take over. The dark-haired teen knew that his 'teacher' was using the taunt to annoy him, if nothing else. "If you aren't cut out for exterminating the vampires, then you'll have to attend school like every other normal person in society."_

 _"I'm not normal; you said so yourself! And the only reason I keep messing up has to be because of you! Stupid Guren!" The insult was launched out of his mouth before he could stop it. Of course, Guren had probably heard him say it before, but it only came flying out at the worst possible times._

 _The lieutenant turned to face him, a calculating look on his face. "How exactly am I the reason for your own shortcomings?" Yu wouldn't ever say so out loud, but Guren was scary when he was angry. Even on the border of anger, a strange sense seemed to fill the air, and Yu normally knew when to quit. Today wasn't one of those days._

 _"You're always late to practice now! How am I ever supposed to learn anything when you're always skipping, doing who knows what?! Is everything you told me a lie?!" The slight resentment that had built up in him for the past few months snapped from inside him, forcing the burning questions outward. Anger surfaced in Guren's eyes, but he somehow controlled it. His words, however, were laced with his barely contained emotions, bordering on a dangerous level._

 _"Listen carefully,_ kid _. I thought we were past your temper tantrums on the unfairness of life. You aren't the only problem this world faces, so you should be glad that I at least make time for practice. If you can't handle our shortened sessions, then you'll end up in a normal school with no chance at revenge."_

The remembered words caused a frown to appear on his face when Guren opened the door. The lieutenant saw said frown, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he waited for Yu to make the first move.

The teen thought through things carefully. He was still bitter about the morning's practice, but Guren seemed to be walking a pretty thin line on exploding recently. He certainly didn't want the threat to be made real. _If I can't carry out my revenge, then what do I have? Even with everything that he said, with someone someday needing me, it's hard to hold onto that._

"What do you want now?" Yu's tone bordered on annoyed and bored. Both seemed to be disrespectful anyway he looked at it, but Guren would most likely overlook that, especially if he was requesting something the teen didn't like. _That and he never comes to visit anymore._

"I have a… suggestion to help with improving your skills. It's optional, but highly recommended." Guren's words were carefully crafted, as they had become over the two years Yu had known him. It always seemed like an indicator that something unpleasant was going to happen; the colonel always seemed to sugarcoat things that Yu didn't want to do, tricking him into doing them anyway.

 _Like the patrol where I broke my ribs or that meeting with… whoever that annoying kid was._ The dark-haired teen didn't remember much about the meeting that happened almost a year ago. It hadn't seemed important in the overall scope of his goals, and it didn't necessarily bring back happy memories. The kid was too polite, too much like most of the younger members of his family had acted.

"What do you want me to do?" Yu resigned to temporary defeat; at least until he heard what Guren had to say. On most chances, it was probably something he wouldn't enjoy doing, but there always was a rare opportunity hidden in there somewhere. _That patrol wasn't all bad._

"There's someone who would like to meet you." His mentor's words were already suspicious, causing a strange lump to form in Yu's stomach out of nervous anticipation. He didn't let it show as Guren continued. "She's the younger sister of that coworker you briefly met. Her name is Shi-"

"Guren, I don't want to meet anyone else." Yu had already turned away from the man, frown still deeply evident on his face. His green gaze bore holes into the wall beside him, but he figured it was better than looking at the other occupant of the room. "I don't need friends in order to defeat the vampires."

Yu tried to ignore the pain that he felt when saying the latter portion of his refusal. A small part of his heart – the part that he had tried to ignore – whispered that he didn't want to lose anyone else. If Guren couldn't figure that out by now, then he would never understand.

"If you can deal with her, then you can deal with anything." An amused smirk was now on his mentor's face as Yu studied the words.

"That basically means that she is unpleasant to be around, doesn't it?"

At the teen's inquiring, Guren's expression turned amused. "Wouldn't you like to know?" It was bait, he knew that, but the lack of information still annoyed him. _Fine, if you're going to play that way…_

"I'm not going to meet her or anyone else you try to introduce me to. Not unless they can further my quest towards my end goal." Looking over the words again, the dark-haired teen figured that he sounded rather childish. He had those rare moments that he would have liked to reword something that he had stated, but he knew he couldn't take the proclamation back.

"It's your loss." _More like win._ When Guren's footsteps led closer to the teen instead of away, Yu quickly became confused. What else could he have to talk about? Unless his mentor wasn't giving up in convincing him, which really did mean that something could come from this meeting. _I'm overthinking it. Stupid Guren is just trying to trick me again._

"How often do you write in this thing? It's falling apart." Guren's remark, as well as the presence of the man's hand inside his pillowcase, caused Yu to bolt upright in his bed. The object grasped in the lieutenant's hands – his journal. True to his father figure's words, the cover of the journal was faded and the binding was loose, but that didn't make the fact that Guren had found said journal any easier to swallow.

"Hey, give it back! How did you even know where to find it?!" Yu lunged towards the man, reaching for the object as he was reminded of a similar event years ago. The fact that the same thing had happened again left a blush of embarrassed anger on his face.

"You always hide it in the most obvious places. Even a kid would know where to find it at this rate." Guren's taunt, as well as the day's stress, finally caught up to the dark-haired teen. Consequences or not, Yu had heard enough for the day.

"AGH!" A scream of anger left his mouth as he lunged at the man once again, red covering his vision. Needless to say, the meeting was left undecided and Yu got a very good rest that night from the exhaustion he felt once he had finally gotten the journal back, intent on hiding it where no one else would find it.

* * *

Well, it's been awhile! Sorry this took so long to get out, despite it being shorter! I had some planning to do for the last few chapters of this story, so we should be finishing up pretty quickly. Then I can focus on getting out Yoichi's Grains of Sand (sorry if that sounds like I'm neglecting this one a bit; Yoichi's is just a lot longer and contains a more in-depth timeline). In this one, I wanted to bring back the journal, since it's something that was from the beginning - and as we now know, Yu-chan has been using it quite a lot~! Also we had the teaser of another "guest" appearance. Sadly it won't go beyond that for this "Grains of Sand" since that would be messing with the timeline much more than we already have! Sorry for the wait and please let me know your thoughts in a review!

~AnimeWolfGirl9


	15. Chapter 15

**Eramis8:** Exactly :D If only he could make the connection in his current squad… although maybe that might be a mistake if Shinoa figured out that they couldn't meet two years earlier…

 **Silver mist (Guest):** Thank you very much! Sorry for the long wait!

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Chapter 15

During the few months leading up to Yu's fifteenth birthday, his training with Guren had increased in intensity. The terrain of the training grounds had been changed on a constant basis and – to Yu's surprise – they had even trained outdoors more often. Guren had started to put the teen through 'simulations' – situations that might mimic weather patterns and area layout if he went on a mission. Today's lesson was no different: Yu had to fight the colonel while currents of 'rain' (the sprinklers of the room had been upgraded) assaulted him. Naturally, this made the dirt ground of the room his favorite state for it to be in – mud.

If it had been a year, or maybe even a few months ago, Yu would have still been struggling with the terrain that he practiced with often, but some 'instinct' – if he could even call it that – had finally clicked in him. The mud now tripped him up less often and he could even easily move through it.

With his increased abilities, they had moved on from wooden practice swords to using metal ones. This was especially prompted after his first 'mission' that had taken place more than a year ago.

 _Now that I think about it, the conditions were somewhat similar._ The thought came to him in the midst of battle as he ducked to avoid one of Guren's horizontal slashes, just barely grazing the teen's dark hair as it passed overhead. During the 'mission,' the weather had been steadily getting worse – Yu could remember distinctly the rain that had poured outside while he had waited on the couch with his broken rib – and he had gotten smacked around a lot before. _Except this time, it's Guren and not a giant monster. Although with the way I'm barely avoiding his attacks that he has the same killing intention._

As the teen parried another of the colonel's strikes, he jumped back to put some distance between them. If the room had been simulated to imitate an overly warm day – maybe even a desert – then Yu knew he would have been soaked through with sweat by now. Instead, because of the 'rain' that poured from the sprinklers, he was thoroughly soaked with water, and his practice uniform was starting to hinder his movements a bit. Not only that, but the 'rain' also tended to obscure his vision. _Which means that Guren should be having the same problem._

Yu took the few precious seconds he had to catch his breath and, while surveying his surroundings for his opponent, his mind wandered again. The teen had noticed a change in himself over the months, but also in his pseudo father figure (he had resigned himself to this way of describing Guren, considering the fact that he couldn't really come up with anything better).

Surveying the 'relationship' that had changed since Yu had first been taken in by the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, he had accepted the fact that he couldn't stop from gaining some amount of familiarity with those that he had interacted with. Especially Guren, as much as the teen had tried to keep him at a distance. Sure, the colonel still liked to taunt him and had a strange way of teaching lessons, but in the end, Yu would have liked to believe that it had benefited him in some way. The older man also had strange ways to show kindness. All of these things that he had observed over the past two years that he had been in the colonel's care seemed to contradict the past week and a half.

The strange aura that Yu always sensed when Guren was on edge or angered seemed to increase in frequency and intensity – no matter how good of a mask the older man could put up, the teen felt the brunt of his hidden emotions through his actions. This was especially so during battle. The dark-haired teen would have liked to believe that it was just due to the heightened training, but he knew that, if he was really telling himself the truth, it wasn't entirely true. Something had changed within Guren, within the entirety of the organization, and he just couldn't figure out what.

During the eight seconds that these observations flew through his head, he knew that Guren would have found a better advantage on the battlefield. Yu shook his head, resetting his thoughts as he barely made out the sound of footsteps above the rainfall. _Stop. Now isn't the time to be thinking about this. If I make mistakes due to my thoughts, he'll just chide me again._

The footsteps quickened and drew nearer, prompting Yu to face them head on. For months, all he could do was run or try to find a way to reset the battle in his advantage, and for months all of these tactics had failed against Guren's superior experience. _Today, even if it's just for a moment, I need to face him head on, entirely. I have to show him that I won't run away this time._

Just as Yu mentally steeled his blade to face the oncoming attack, a streak of red sped straight towards him, catching on the horizontal position of his sword. The weight that hit against his blade was stronger than Yu had prepared for, forcing the teen to tighten his grip on the hilt to avoid losing his weapon entirely.

 _Something isn't right._

The thought echoed in his mind once again as he blocked another strike, this one as strong as the last one. He gritted his teeth in frustration as he put his weight behind parrying the attack.

 _He isn't acting like himself._

Yu barely managed to deflect Guren's sword backwards. In the small opening that his block had created, he leaned his weight forward, pushing off of his right foot to close the distance. The teen's downward strike was blocked once again.

 _I can't just leave this be._

The dark-haired teen rolled to the left, the mud sliding easily past him, as he narrowly missed being caught by one of the colonel's diagonal strikes.

 _I have to help somehow!_

The thought tore its way through his mind, almost materializing as a shout from deep within him. The teen readied his blade, prepared to continue his assault, when something stopped him. The same strange aura that he had felt from Guren for the past week had peaked, leaving a cold feeling seep into him. At the same time, the red glow from Guren's blade increased, the light shining through the downpour.

Yu's instincts screamed for him to get away – that something bad was coming – and he jumped backwards, hoping to put some distance between them. Guren's sword sliced through thin air, relieving the teen for a moment. What he hadn't expected, however, was for the red glow of the sword to slice outwards, following an arc that continued towards him. Using the last ounce of solid footing he had, the teen pushed off the ground, sending his trajectory sideways.

The vertical trail of the sword missed him, allowing him to avoid any fatal amount of damage. Despite this, the sheer strength of the swing and its aftermath blew him off balance, forcing him off the ground and into the air. When he landed on the ground again, the teen couldn't stop the momentum that he had been hit with, causing his body to roll over several times more before he stopped, lying winded on the ground.

The 'simulation' concluded that the battle was over, causing the rain to stop almost instantly. As the last remnants of water fell in puddles on the ground, all that remained was the two combatants – both, for the most part, too stunned to move.

Yu forced himself to catch his breath, giving himself a few moments to inhale a few deep lungfuls of air, before he attempted to get up off the floor. The teen rolled sideways, using his waning arm strength to push himself off. His formerly broken side ached in pain. It wasn't a terrible situation, but it had been a few months since the tender wound had bothered him.

His green gaze sought out Guren, who had yet to move. The colonel just stood still, staring after the arc of red light that his sword had emitted. Yu followed his gaze and winced; the blade had carved a deep mark into the wall. The teen's frantic thoughts jumbled in his mind, clouding his rational thought.

"What the heck was that?!" He shouted as he found his footing, knowing the attack could have been fatal if he hadn't narrowly avoided it. The wall was proof enough of that. The strange aura that he had felt faded, leaving the room silent.

Guren didn't answer him right away, his gaze continued to lie on the wall before it moved to the teen. A familiar emotion lay within his eyes, but Yu couldn't identify it at the moment. After a few seconds had past, the colonel put his sword into its sheath and turned away from the teen.

"We're done for today." The words were curt, barely lacking the strength that the older man's voice normally conveyed. The signal to end the lesson offered no answers.

"Guren-" Yu tried to say something, feeling his confusion overcoming his pain in the moment, but the older man walked past him without another word. The dark-haired teen stood paralyzed as Guren walked out of the room, his green gaze on the sword that had replaced his regular practice one. Its blade was dark as night, and the red tint it contained was now safely covered by the sheath. The door to the training room closed before he could observe anything more.

The former orphan stood silently for another minute, his gaze on the closed door before it lowered to the floor. "Just what in the world is going on?" The whisper came out, part concern and part anger, and it fell on deaf ears.

It was only after Yu had made it back to his room and showered that his thoughts had some sort of coherence to them. He knew Guren was hurting, but he wasn't sure from what. He didn't know where Guren's new sword had come from either. There was just too much he didn't know.

The teen walked over to his desk on autopilot, opening a drawer and pulling out his 'diary' that he had started several years earlier. It had seemed like just yesterday that Guren had teased him about it, causing him to hide it in many places so that the colonel couldn't find it. Now though, he knew Guren had barely tried to touch it, even though it was in "such an easy place to find" (he knew Guren would say something like that to him again if the older man had bothered to look for it).

When he brought the book over to his bed and sat down, flipping to the first page, something fluttered gently from the broken binding. He caught it easily, finding that the reflexes he had gained from battle were made much sharper than he had originally thought. The piece of paper in his hand had clear evidence of age; many creases from folding and small tears marred the once clean note, which read in faded letters:

 _Feel free to write anything you need to in this. If you ever need to talk, ask someone to lead you to my office_

Yu almost wanted to laugh at some amount of irony in the note. Yu had never really visited Guren's office that often – maybe only a handful of times – and Guren had been to Yu's room more times than he could count.

"Besides, he wouldn't talk to me if I went there right now, would he?" the whisper left him as he lay down on the bed, still clutching the old note. It was times like these, when he didn't see any sort of option that he could pursue, that he wondered how Mika would have acted. _What would you have done? If you had survived instead of me, would Guren have opened up to you about what was bothering him?_

"Mika, what should I do?"

* * *

Well, it's been a lot longer than I intended it to be for this chapter to be released (that seems to be the case nowadays). Sorry about that! I've had a lot to do with life and school, and I won't bore you all with any detailed explanations. Also, I am not too good at writing fight scenes, so I hope this chapter was satisfactory enough. As I was looking back over the earlier parts of this fanfiction, I realize that the chapters sort of go in a pattern: downtime, fighting, interactions with 'guest' characters, and repeating. That wasn't intentional, I assure you! I am thinking we only have a few more chapters until this fanfiction wraps up, and then I can focus on getting some other Seraph of the End ones out that have been on backlog. If there is anything that you would like to see (and if I can fit it into the current plot; if not, I could try to fit it as an extra), please let me know! Next chapter we should have another brief cameo character (any guesses?), so please look forward to that!

~AnimeWolfGirl9


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